Filing apparatus



Dec. 24, 1946. R, P, SCHQLHELD l2,413,078

FILING APPARATUS Filed May `l2, 1944 3g i l? 3J 32 mi 15' Inv/enor,Rfchaw chqleld, g.- L 15.5/ y/worny' Patented Dec. 24, 1946 FILINGAPPARATUS Richard P. S'choleld, New York, N. Y., assignor to ScholfleldService, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York ApplicationMay 12, 1944,` serial No. 535,347

The present invention relates to ling apparatus and, more particularly,to apparatus of the type in which a plurality :of filing card-s aremounted upon a rotatable drum or support, for ready access forinspection and posting by an operator. Apparatus of this class isexemplified by the prior patents to Scholeld et al., Nos. 2,046,655;2,205,932; and 2,231,029.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a ro-tary file whichis adapted to be positioned upon a desk, table or other article ofoflice equipment, so as to be conveniently accessible to `an operatorfor quickly getting desired information and so that data may be readilyposted or entered upon appropriate cards.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus ofthis type, in which the cards are so arranged that -they naturally tendto separate from one another, or spread apart slightly, and, by theirown weight, will stay in a separated position when once opened up at aparticular place by an operator, for inspection and posting.

A further object of the invention is to provide increased card capacityfor a le of given size. Another object is to provide, in a compactrotary le containing a large number of cards, improved means formounting the cards, which materially facilitates manipulation of the le.

Another object is to provide means for hingedly mounting the card-s onthe periphery of a. drum in such manner that the cards are tippedrearwardly away from the position of the operator, so that they may beinspected more readily than heretofore and so that entries may be postedwith greater ease. Another advantage :flowing from this arrangement isthat' the cards normally tend to swing apart` and may be quickly andeasily separated by the operator, whereupon theyl will maintain thatrelation.

Other and further objects and advantages will be apparent to personsskilled in the art from a consideration of the following description ofthe specic embodiment shown for purposes of illustration in theaccompanying drawing and described below.

Rotary files of the type. shown in the above pat ents, and manufacturedand sold extensively by applicants assignee for a number of years,` havebeen of two general types, namely,Y filing drums mounted for rotation ona horizontal or slightly inclined axisv and drums mounted. for rotationon a vertical axis. In both. types, the rim of the drum has beencylindrical and the cards have been secured at their inner edges onlines parallel to the axis of the drum In accordance with the preesntinvention,- a radical departure, from .prior practices has been made,since the rim or periphery of the filing drum is disposed upon anupwardly and in- 6 Claims. (CL 12S-162)- z wardlyinclned surface, suchasa frusto-concal surface or a truncated pyramidal surface, the drumbeing mounted for rotation 4about its own axis, arranged substantiallyvertically. 'This novel structure results in numerous unexpectedadvantages and in a new mode of operation, as explained below.

In. the accompanying drawing:

, Figure 1 is a perspective View of the improved .apparatus with aplurality of cards mounted thereon;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the drum, showing aycard mounted thereon, and:Y

Figure 3 is a plan v-ieW of a preferred form of card, with a centralsection broken away.

The drum l0 is preferably mounted for rotation .abolita central post. lI extending upwardly from a suitable base l2. The drum l0 may be made ofany suitable material, such as molded plastic, .cast metal, wood turnedon va lathe, or sheet metal, stamped or spun to the ,desired shape-Bearings l3 I4, as shown in Figure 2 may be employed,` or any other typeof ball or rollerk bearings may be substituted. A collar l5,

tast on the pest l constitutes a thrustbearing and supports the weightof the drum and the cards, while a cap I6 on the upper end of thev postoverlies the bearing I3 and the central portion of the drum.

The rim, circumference or periphery 20 of the ,drum isv preferablydisposed u-pon a frusta-conical. surface which isI inclined in the.`neighborhood of 18 4to 23 from lthe vertical as indicated by angle a. Ofcourse, the invention is not restricted to any specific range: ofinclination of the surface, but theV degreesi-ndicated are preferred.Moreover, any other type of upwardly and inwardly tapering surface orsurfaces maybe employed, such as are providedV by a many-sided,truncated pyramid, for instance.

The cards 22 are retained upon the surface of thex drum 4by a pair ofci-rcumferentially extending',4 parallel card retaining rails 23, 24,which may be formed integrally with the drum or separately and securedtheretoV by any appropriate means. The rails, in cross section, projectperpendicularly from thev surface of thev drum and each comprises a webl25 and a head 26 .having arcuate margins struck about spaced centers, asexplained in prior Patent No. 2,231,029. If desired a rail shape of thetype shown in Patent No. 2,368,162 dated` January 30, 1945',4 may beemployed, withV correspondingly shaped slots in the cards.. Preferably,the outer end face of the rail head is struck on a relatively nat archavinga ratherv long radius, while the sideT faces are ldisposed onarcsof considerably less radius.

The inner margins 28 of the cards 22 are provided with keyhole shapedslots 29, 30, spaced 'shown apart a distance equal to the spacing of therails. The slots correspond generally in cross sectional shape to -theshape of the rails, and vinclude throats 3| adapted to embrace the Webs25and enlargements 32 adapted to embrace the rail heads.

The slots are slightly larger than the rails, so as to permit the cardsto hinge or swing e i freely about their inner edges, but make line contact with the rails, as explained in the abovementioned patents.

The cards may be applied to the drum by nexmounted drums.

yadvantages resulting therefrom will be clear from theforegoingdescription. It should be understood 'that the invention is not limitedto the f' details of construction shown in the accompanying the marginsof the slots opposite the throats 3l and may be deliberately removed ina similar manner, but, because of the structure illustrated, they willnot become detached accidentally.

.As .aresult of theangularv disposition ofthe inner edges of the cards,that is, the upward and inward inclination thereof, the weight of eachcard tends to swing it laterally, fromA the position shown in Figure 2.This tipping of the cards vgives them a somewhat unbalancedcharacteristic, but when the cards are packed relatively tightly aroundone portion of the circumference ofthe drum, they` stand substantiallyradially. When the operator separates the'cards at one point, however,their unbalanced condition causes them to spread apart under their ownweight and to remain in that relationfuntil manually shifted to adifferent position. This characteristic of the new arrangement is ofmaterial advantage, since an operator need use only one hand inseparating the cards and in posting entries thereon or otherwisemanipulating the device. There is no danger that the cards willmovetogether and the operators place be lost.

In view of the fact that the circumference of the drum at its upper endis less than at its lower end, it will be apparent thatthe cards mountedthereon will be more closely packedat their upper edges than at theirlowerones. This results in a spreading or fanning out of the cards andis of material advantage, since each card, at its lower portion isnormally spaced a slight distance from its neighbor, therebyfacilitating separation of the cards and rapid inspection of datathereon. j

In some cases itis desirable to interpose between the central post Iland the drum, a oneway clutch or brake device, to restrain rotation ofthe drum in one direction, so that substantial force in that directionmay be applied to the drum as when posting entries on cards mountedthereon.- Any of the one-way brakes of the types in the above-identifiedPatent No. 2,046.655 may be employed, in a manner which will be entirelyclear to one skilled in the art, from a consideration of the patent andthe present specication. Alternatively. a one-way clutch and brakedevice of the type shown in the application of Scholiield and Kelly,Serial No. 499,966 filed August 25, 1943, may be used and, if desired,a'handle mechanism of the type shown in that application may beassociated with the vertically `mounted drum of the present application.

'or post, with suitable collars, similar to that shown at l5 andreferred to above, or equivalent devices. to maintain the several drumsin properly spaced relation. Moreover, the one-way brake and clutchdevices and the handle meching drawing and described above, but that allmodic'ationsA coming within the scope of the appended claims and theirequivalents are included.

I claim: 1. A filing apparatus comprising a substantially verticallydisposed drum supported for rotation .about its axis andl having acircumferentially unbroken continuous, upwardly and inwardly taperingperiphery, circumferentially continuous card retaining means associatedwith the periphery of the cl-rum, and a plurality of cards retainedthereby adjacent their inner edges for lateral swinging movement withrespect thereto.

2. A iiling apparatus comprising a vertically disposed frusto-conicaldrum supported for rotation about its axis, and means for retaining aplurality of slotted cards upon its periphery for Iswinging movementwith respect thereto, said means comprising a continuous,circumferentially ,extending card retaining raill adapted to be receivedin the slots in the cards. f 3. A ling apparatus comprising a verticallydisposed frusto-conical drum supported for rotation about its axis, andmeansfor retaining a plurality of slotted cards upon its periphery forswinging movement with respect thereto, said means comprisinga pair ofspaced, parallel, circumferentially extending card retaining railsadapted to enter spaced slots in the cards.

4. A filing apparatus comprising avertically disposed frusto-conicaldrum supported for rotation about its axis, `and means for retaining a'plurality of slotted cards upon its periphery for swinging movementwith respect thereto, said means comprising a pair of spaced, parallelcard retaining rails projecting perpenclicularly from the drum peripheryand adapted to be received in spaced slots extending perpendicularlyinto cards from one edge thereof. l

5. In combination, a iiling drum journalled for rotation on asubstantially vertical axis and having its periphery disposed'on afrusto-conical surface, inclined from its lower edge upwardly andinwardly toward its axis, card retaining means on the'inclined surfaceof the drum, and a plurality of ling cards hingedly secured at theirinner edges to said means, with their inner edges inclined upwardly andinwardly, whereby the weight of the cards tends to cause them to tiplaterally and to swing apart 'so that inspection orf and posting uponthe cards is facilitated.

6. In combination, a frusto-conical filing drum journalled for rotationon a substantially vertical axis and having its periphery inclined fromits lower edge upwardly and inwardly toward its axis, a pair ofcircumferentially extending, parallel card retaining rails on saidperiphery, and a Plurality of iiling cards hingedly secured at theirinner edges to said rails, with their inner edges inclined upwardly andinwardly, whereby the weight of the cards tends to cause them to tiplaterally and to swing apart so that inspection of and posting uponthecards is facilitated.

RICHARD P. SCHOLFTELD. l

